A new video of Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showing the pro-Khalistani fugitive without a turban. The undated CCTV footage, said to be from a market in Delhi, showed him walking down a street wearing dark glasses. Behind him Papalpreet could be seen walking with a bag.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Govt told the High Court here on Tuesday that they were coordinating with several agencies and close to catching Amritpal, who has been on the run since the police crackdown on him and his outfit - Waris Punjab De - began on March 18.
Images and videos that emerged on social media since then have showed him changing his vehicles and appearance multiple times in a bid to dodge police.
There is no official word from Punjab Police on the fresh footage.
A senior Delhi Police official said they are probing whether the persons seen in the video are Amritpal and his aide. “So far we don’t have any such information, nor the location where the video was shot has been confirmed to be of Delhi. However, we are verifying it,” the official said.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by advocate Imaan Singh Khara, which claimed that Amritpal was in the “illegal custody” of police.
Punjab Advocate General Vinod Ghai told the court that Amritpal has not been arrested yet and they were coordinating with agencies to nab the radical preacher.
Later, the petitioner told reporters that the AG said in the court that they were close to catching Amritpal.
Justice N S Shekhawat asked the petitioner to file an affidavit to produce evidence that Amritpal was in police custody and pointed out that the State’s stand was that the preacher had not been arrested.
The court told the petitioner it would appoint a warrant officer if evidence was placed before it to show that Amritpal was in illegal detention.
The court fixed March 29 as the next date of hearing in the case. On March 21, the court rapped the Punjab government over the intelligence failure that allowed Amritpal Singh to escape the police crackdown. The police action against the radical preacher and his outfit began about three weeks after he and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. Six police personnel were injured.
The fresh video showing Amritpal without turban has emerged a day after his picture with Papalpreet widely circulated on social media. That image showed both these men looking relaxed and Amritpal holding a beverage can. They were also allegedly harboured by a woman at her home in Shahabad in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district on March 19. On March 25, CCTV footage emerged purportedly showing Amritpal talking on a mobile phone.
Punjab Police has arrested or detained a number of his associates under criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder and attack police personnel, and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge duty by public servants. They have slapped the stringent National Security Act against some of them.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said he has asked the director general of police to release from preventive custody those who were not found to be involved in any anti-national activity. He, however, has added that strict action will be taken against anyone who tries to disturb peace in the state.
On Sunday, Punjab Police said they have released 197 people out of 353 taken into preventive custody till then on apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance of law and order.